Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report — March 2025
Early spring transition; first tarpon in the channels; cobia appearing at Ponce and Sebastian. Updated every Thursday with current conditions, what’s biting, and where to focus your fishing effort.
What’s Biting in Indian River Lagoon — March 2025
Check back every Thursday for updated fishing conditions and current bite reports for Indian River Lagoon. See our Indian River Lagoon fishing guide for full seasonal information.
March: Warm-Up Begins, Redfish Return to Flats
March is the transition month in the IRL — late winter cold fronts still pass through, but the water warms steadily into the upper 60s and low 70s, and the fish respond by moving out of their winter holes and onto the shallower flats. Redfish are the headline this month: schools that have been tight and tucked all winter start to spread out and feed aggressively on warming afternoons. Spotted seatrout bite well throughout the month, and the first snook of the spring start showing in the deeper warm-water sanctuaries.
Tackle & Technique
The standard IRL redfish setup: 20 lb braid on a 3000–4000 spinning reel, 20 lb fluoro leader, and either a 1/4 oz weighted swimbait or a soft plastic on a 1/16 oz jighead for shallow approaches. The fish in March often eat slowly — let the lure sit, twitch it lightly, and resist the urge to retrieve fast. For trout, a popping cork over a 24-inch leader with a Gulp! Shrimp or a live shrimp is a high-percentage rig in the grass flats. Cover water until you find a school, then anchor and work the area.
Where to Fish
Mosquito Lagoon’s east shoreline, the spoil islands of the north IRL, and the grass flats around Wabasso and Sebastian all produce in March. The deeper holes near the Eau Gallie causeway and Pineda hold snook through cool snaps. Black drum start showing in the deeper channels and along the seawalls — bigger fish than redfish, and they eat the same baits.
Conditions to Watch
March cold fronts can drop temperatures 10 degrees overnight, shutting down the bite for 24–48 hours. The best fishing tends to be on warming days — the second or third day of a southerly wind pattern. Watch the water temperatures: when the IRL hits and holds 72°F, the snook bite turns on hard. Tides in the lagoon are wind-driven; northwest winds drain water from the east shore flats and concentrate fish in the deeper edges.
Local Knowledge
March redfish move in the lagoon as much horizontally as vertically. A school that was on the east flat at sunrise might be on the west by mid-morning. If you find a school and they move out, don’t panic — slowly idle in a 200-yard circle and you’ll usually re-locate them within the hour. Also: bring a thermometer. Knowing whether you’re fishing 68°F or 72°F water tells you which species to target and where they’ll be holding.
Where to focus this month
March is a transition month in the lagoon, and that makes for a varied bag. Redfish are still on the flats and around the spoil islands, but the schools are loosening as the water warms into the upper 60s and 70s. The first tarpon of the year begin to show in the deeper basins and around the warmer water near the inlets and power-plant discharges. At Sebastian Inlet, cobia ride in with the rays and on the surface on the calm, clear days, giving sight-casters a shot at a brown bomber.
Tactics for the transition
This is a month to keep options open. A medium spinning outfit covers the redfish and trout, but step up the gear if you are hunting the early tarpon and cobia at the inlet. A live crab or a bucktail pitched to a cruising cobia, and a live bait or a big soft plastic worked through the deeper basins for tarpon, both come into play. Seatrout fishing improves over the grass as the water warms, and black drum remain a steady bet around the docks and bridges.
The month ahead
April brings the tarpon numbers up and the snook back to the inlets in pre-spawn mode, so March is the time to gear up for the spring. Watch the warming trend and the calmer days, and respect the conservative redfish rules in the lagoon.